


You Can't Take The Sky From Me

by WeeVaultie



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anxiety Disorder, Comments Give Me The Warm Fuzzies, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Game Dialogue Heavy, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:22:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27913741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeeVaultie/pseuds/WeeVaultie
Summary: Gianna is in over her head. That much was certain from the moment she toppled out of her escape pod on Terra 2 with nothing but a set of vague instructions from Phineas Welles. Now, broken and afraid, she has little choice but to confront the Board head on if she wants any chance at the new beginning that she left Earth behind for.And for that she first needs a crew.
Relationships: Female Captain/Felix Millstone, The Captain/Felix Millstone
Kudos: 5





	You Can't Take The Sky From Me

_Take my love, take my land  
Take me where I cannot stand.  
I don’t care, I’m still free  
You can’t take the sky from me._

\- Ballad of Serenity

~~~

If the sight and sound of the rickety old Apex Transport starship hadn’t been enough to immediately grab Felix’s attention, the odd motley crew that clambered out of it certainly was. Clearly this was no ordinary Sublight Salvage crew. After all, how many ships could boast a travelling vicar these days?

_And boy, he sure looks thrilled to be here._

The older man looked around the docking station of the Groundbreaker with a scowl wide enough to give even Commandant Sanita pause, and he had a distinct wrinkle in his nose that gave Felix the impression that there was some unpleasant odour hanging beneath it.

Or maybe he was just weary of the bubbly younger woman bounding alongside him.

The grease smears across her forehead and cheeks would have marked her as an engineer even without the welding goggles strapped to her head and the variety of wrenches and spanners hanging from her belt, and the way she bounced energetically on the balls of her feet beside the much taller vicar gave him the impression that she was very young, almost too young to be a ship’s mechanic to his mind.

“Captain, hey Captain… I’m in space! I never thought I’d be able to say that!” She squeaked, wringing her hands excitedly as though she wanted to grab the nearest person by the collar and shake them violently.

Felix continued to watch on from his position at the end of the docking bay as a third person then appeared from behind the mismatched couple, and he narrowed his eyes at the sight of her.

She was only a few inches shorter than the engineer, but around the same age, give or take. She too was taking in the sight of the ship with large eyes, spinning in a slow circle as she looked up at the high glass ceiling and welded metal that held this old pile of crap together. Something in the way she held herself made him frown out of curiosity, and it was only when she turned and cocked an eyebrow at the nearby Auntie Cleos cargo ship that it clicked.

There was no sense of repression about her, no weight around her slim shoulders that only came from a lifetime of being stomped underboot. Every step that she took as she strode up the dock was full of purpose, and the way her head tilted thoughtfully as she took in the station - like she was sizing it up - suggested that this wasn’t your everyday freelancer.

The trio were very quickly stopped by a dockhand, who began to ramble on without pause about their ship’s credentials. The vicar huffed irritably and the engineer’s eyes shifted nervously between him and the dockhand, but the Captain merely leaned into a hip and shot an easy smile up at the woman, giving full attention to her rehearsed corporate schtick.

His frown deepened. He’d only ever seen that kind of nonchalance before in children, those who were still too young to understand that their only purpose in life to the Board was to be worked until they either dropped dead from exhaustion or were chewed up by some backfiring machinery. He supposed she could be from Byzantium, that might explain her seemingly carefree attitude towards authority.

_Nah, surely not. For one thing she isn’t looking down her nose at everyone who speaks to her._

She stilled suddenly, as though she could sense strange eyes on her, and turned away from her conversation whilst the vicar kept the dockhand distracted with talk of ‘the great plan.’ For the briefest moment they met gazes. Felix had only a split second to register the sudden thrum of his heart in his chest before he in turn looked away, noticing as he did that one of the Mardet’s was heading in his direction with a Corporate trooper in tow.

“Oh great.” He muttered, folding his arms a little tighter across his chest and plastering a smirk on his face as the pair drew closer.

“A word please, Felix.”

“Afternoon, Mardet. Your helmet’s looking remarkably well-shined today.”

“I’ve been informed that there was an altercation between you and your foreman this morning.” She went on, choosing to ignore his piss-poor attempt at flattery.

“The word ‘altercation’ makes it sound so unpleasant,” Felix tutted, shaking his head from side to side. “We were just having a friendly chat about the game last night.”

“Well, I must admit this isn’t the most serious tossball related incident report I’ve had in the last twenty four hours.”

“That’s not the point,” the Trooper interjected furiously. “This halfwit just knocked out one of my workers!”

“Yeah, with a tossball stick. I heard you the first time.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “There weren’t any witnesses.”

“No witnesses? He’s not even denying it.”

“Jackass has it coming.” He shrugged simply. He knew he was in the shit for losing his temper either way. At least if the Mardet threw him in a cell he was guaranteed a half-comfortable bed and his own private toilet for at least a couple of nights.

“Shut it, Felix. You’re not making this any better.” The Mardet warned, though he was certain he caught the corner of her lip quirk upward ever so slightly.

The Trooper looked as though he wanted to take his head clean off, but the presence of the Mardet looming over his shoulder discouraged him from making such a stupid move.

“You get cute with me again, you little Back-Bay brat, and I will toss you out an airlock!”

Felix merely grinned.

_And so he settles for threats of physical violence. Smart guy._

Clearly the Mardet didn’t think so.

“This is the Groundbreaker, not Byzantium. You ain’t the law here, I am. Now move along.” She said sternly, stepping in between the two before things could escalate further.

“I don’t have time for this. I need a drink.” The Trooper spat, turning on his heel and storming off with a dismissive wave of his arms. But Felix couldn’t resist getting one last dig in.

“Tell the foreman if he puts his teeth under his pillow a magical sprat with wings’ll come and leave some bits under it in the night!”

He heard a sudden chuckle and looked away from the thoroughly fed up Mardet to see the woman from before stifling her laughter in the palm of her hand, looking right at him.

“Sorry, good one.” She coughed, shaking her head. The dockhand had now disappeared, and so had the vicar. She and the engineer appeared to just be hanging around.

“Going for a stroll around the docking bays?” Now that they were closer, he couldn’t help but notice the sheer lack of stuff they had on them. Most people that docked on the Groundbreaker were usually hauling a hefty amount of cargo that they were looking to offload and sell. But aside from their guns and the engineer’s tools they looked to be travelling pretty light. Maybe they were just here to grab some supplies for the road? But he also hadn’t seen anyone else boarding or leaving that ship since it docked.

_Maybe she’s in the market for crew?_

Or maybe that was just the desperation talking, what with him being very recently unemployed and all.

“Waiting on our friend, he forgot his favourite shotgun,” She replied casually, gesturing with her head in the direction of the ship. Her voice was smooth and strangely accented. Something about it reminded him of the old timers that lived on the Groundbreaker when he was just a little kid, all of whom were long gone now.

“What was that argument about? If you don’t mind my asking.” She went on, leaning against a crate with her arms folded while the engineer peered over a nearby railing to get a better look at the depths of the ship, muttering excitedly to herself.

_Definitely not from around here. No normal person would just up and ask a complete stranger about their private conversations if they wanted to keep themselves out of trouble… though, not that anything about that argument was particularly private._

“Oh, you know, got a knack for upsetting the Board and the Mardet’s all at once,” He shot her a crooked grin. “Between you and me, I was hoping they’d come to fisticuffs.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, fighting back a grin. Both her left index and middle fingers began tapping out a rhythm on her right bicep. “Really? I heard you knocked a guy out with a tossball stick.”

“The guy insulted my Rizzo’s Ranger’s, all right? You can’t just insult my Ranger’s and expect to get away with it. So of _course_ I decked him with a tossball stick. I mean, what am I, some kind of fair weather fan?”

This time she didn’t even try to hide her laughter, and Felix couldn’t help but smile like a fool at the way the sound slid down his spine like running water. He took the opportunity to take a closer look at this increasingly interesting captain.

Her long, dark blonde hair was gathered into an untidy bun on top of her head, with large strands falling loose into her eyes. At first he’d pegged them for a deep and bottomless blue, framed by a fan of long, dark lashes. But he could have swore under the harsh fluorescent lights hanging above that they had a strange, unnatural violet hue to them.

“So, what exactly did he do?” She went on, tilting her head to the side and revealing a pretty fresh cut to the bottom of her jaw, thin enough that he figured it hadn’t been a life threatening injury, but deep enough that he knew it would scar up.

_Hasn’t she taken any adreno for that?_

“Guy never liked me. Always trying to get a rise out of me. But I keep my chin up, right? Be the bigger man, I tell myself.”

Felix paused and tensed his jaw furiously, suddenly wishing he could have got in a few more good swings at the foreman for all the shit he put him through over the past couple years.

“But he’s a Spacer’s Chosen man, though. So when the Chosen beat my Ranger’s the other night, he comes swaggering up with his head full of boasting.”

“And that’s when you resolved your differences like an adult, right?”

Her choice of words suggested she was criticising him, but the smile on her face never faltered. She almost looked sort of… _impressed._

And damn it all if that didn’t do wonders for his ego.

“That’s when I broadsided him with a tossball stick, yeah.” He grinned, though his temper still simmered just beneath the surface. “Look this was a long time coming. Guy thinks he can push me around ‘cause he’s some sky-high foreman and I’m just some Back-Bays dockworker?” His mouth quirked to one side. “Well, former dockworker. Guess I just tendered my resignation.”

 _Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap._ Her fingers kept up that same rhythm on her arm as he spoke. Felix might have believed that she was some sort of addict, but she didn’t have that jittery ‘I’ll stab you just for breathing wrong’ look about her.

“So, do you have any plans?”

We’re his ears deceiving him, or did she actually seem to care?

“Enjoy my freedom, scrounge together enough bits for a Zero Gee. Other than that, can’t say as I do.” He shot another look down the dock. “Hey, not for nothing, but I saw you wander out of that ship over there by the dock. Wouldn’t happen to be yours, would it?”

Her smile faded a little and she cast a look over her shoulder at the hulking beast behind her.

“That’s me. Captain of the Unreliable.” She said in a small voice, her fingers finally slowing to a halt.

“Captain of the Unreliable,” Felix whistled low. “You’re like something out of a serial drama.”

She laughed a little louder this time, her eyes crinkling in the corners. It was kind of cute.

“Captain,”

They both turned to see the vicar approaching them from the dock, a wicked looking shotgun now slung across his back.

_Shit, what’s a man of the cloth doing wielding that kind of firepower?_

_And why does he need it on Groundbreaker of all places?_

He regarded Felix with the same disdainful grimace he’d been sporting when he first left the ship, and rolled his eyes when the younger man winked at him before turning back to the captain.

“I’m ready to move on when you are.”

His tone couldn’t have been more pointed if he tried, but Felix wasn’t dumb enough to think he could keep her attention all day, despite the fact that he sort of wanted to reach out and push those loose locks of hair out of her eyes to get a better look at the few freckles peppered in the corners.

He gave himself a very firm mental shake and kicked off from the container he’d been leaning against, raising both hands amicably. “Hey, I don’t wanna talk your ears off. Guessing you got places to be. I appreciate your time.”

The vicar was already walking away towards customs, the engineer following on. But the captain hung back, casting a long, thoughtful look at him before holding out a hand.

“I never caught your name. I’m Gianna.”

_Fuck, should’ve known the name would be pretty too._

He took the hand that was being offered, frowning inwardly at how cold her fingers were. What with the radiators being busted and Ms Tennyson taking her sweet time in getting them fixed, the Groundbreaker was like a damn sauna these days.

“Felix Millstone. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

She all but beamed at him and turned to catch up with her crew. “See you around, Felix.”

“See you around, boss.” He called back at her, casting yet another look up at the Unreliable as she made her way over to customs.

He slowly began wandering up the dock alongside the ship, trying to imagine himself stepping through those large doors and taking off into the stars, the Groundbreaker shrinking away into the distance as he sailed off to adventures unknown.

He’d made no secret about wanting to hop on whatever ship would take him and hightail it the hell off of Groundbreaker, he’d said as much to just about anyone who would give him an ear ever since he’d clawed his way up out of the Back-Bays.

And to his credit, he’d made it this far. But he’d been stuck under the thumb of company employment ever since, hauling boxes day in and day out for a pittance that barely afforded him a bed at the end of each day. Ship captains would only look at him long enough to register the fact that he was a dockworker before barking orders at him, and most of them hadn’t even dignified him with a response beyond laughter when he enquired about crew openings.

But he had a good feeling about this one, and it wasn’t just because Gianna was about the cutest damn captain he’d ever seen.

This time he physically shook his head, a flicker of irritation quelling the heat in his gut. This was nothing to do with a pretty face. Hell, it wasn’t even really about employment.

_I just… can’t stay here any longer._

Felix sat himself down on a discarded crate and ran a hand roughly through his hair. _Think._ He had one shot to get this right and talk his way onto her ship.

He supposed he was useful enough. He was young, strong and threw a mean dropkick. He was pretty good at talking his way out of a sticky situation and… what else?

“S’pose if all else fails I can promise to make her laugh more.” He sighed, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

It was probably a bad sign that he smiled at the thought.

* * *

“Ooh, how pretty!”

Both Gianna and Parvati gasped when they stepped out onto the promenade and were met by a dazzling display of brightly coloured string lights and advertisements hanging above their heads. Each one bore the name of a different company brand and was accompanied by a jingle that altogether merged into one grating cacophony of noise. She had to look away as staring at them for more than a handful of seconds at a time was already giving her a headache.

“Try not to be distracted by the glare of the adverts, lots of unsavoury types about.” Max shot a warning glance over at a sketchy young boy who was eyeing up the trio as they walked by. Or, more specifically, eyeing up their pockets. As soon as the vicar angled his back to clearly show off his shotgun, however, the boy scarpered away into the shadows.

Gianna watched the child flee with a sad frown. “I’ve been doing a lot of reading up on what classifies as unsavoury these days, Max. I’m pretty sure the starving child doesn’t fit the mould.

They headed for the starboard side of the promenade just as the customs officer had directed back at the docks, and she stopped dead in her tracks as she got a closer look at the building at the farthest end, the one they were heading for. She bit back a groan.

“That, on the other hand, is practically the literary definition of the word.”

When Corporal Wheeler told her the Board’s office shone like a Byzantium commode, Gianna had dismissed it as a total exaggeration on his part.

It stood out so obnoxiously from the muted grey tones of the rest of the ship that she couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose in disgust. The golden façade had to have been worth more than the entire ship, cargo and all, and judging by the two Groundbreaker locals who were standing harassing the guards at the main doors, she wasn’t the only one who was unimpressed.

“C’mon, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can take care of real business.” Gianna sighed, gesturing for her companions to follow. She gave Parvati a gentle squeeze on the shoulder when she cast a wary look up at the dazzling golden pillars framing the doors, and tried without success to wipe away the grease smudge on her nose.

The inside was just as gaudy and bright as the outside. Two more guards stood sentry along the wall at the back of the room, eyeing the group up cautiously as they approached, while sitting in the middle, scribbling away at his desk, was a young man in rather fine clothes that she pegged as the Udom Bedford they’d been sent to speak to.

“I think everything in here is worth more than I made in my whole life.” Parvati muttered, cupping her hands close to her chest as though she was terrified of what would happen if she touched anything.

He looked up as the group approached his desk and narrowed his eyes as he gave them a once over that was both brief and dripping with arrogance.

“Ah, yes. Wheeler messaged me you were coming. You must be the Captain of the Unreliable,”

Gianna opened her mouth to confirm, but was quickly cut off.

“A vessel that used to be helmed by one Alex Hawthorne… and you are not he.” His expression shifted into a frown that aged him terribly. “Has something happened to my favourite scruffy freelancer?”

She pursed her lips and cast a glance over at Max, who gestured for her to continue with a none-too subtle nod of his head. She could feel her heart rate picking up speed and tried without success to calm herself down by taking a deep breath.

 _Why do I have to be the one to do this?_ She found herself asking for perhaps the hundredth time since landing on Terra 2.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you - Alex is dead.”

Bedford squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head from side to side. “Oh no, this is terrible! My dear friend! What devilry is this? In whose miserable fever dream am I trapped!?”

She genuinely felt kind of sorry for the guy when he rested his head in his hands with a mournful sigh. Though considering he was still living in an office made of gold there were strict limits as to how far that pity went.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” She wondered if that was still a thing that people said. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time she’d received strange looks from people for making an otherwise innocent remark. But it was too late to take it back now.

At any rate, Bedford seemed to either accept her condolences, or ignore it entirely in his grief.

“Oh Alex, there were so many arguments we’d yet to have…”

“You were close?”

“He was my dearest friend. My only friend.” He replied between his fingers before his head suddenly sprung up. “You have his ship, you must know! That picture of us on the promenade - me, hugging him; him, wincing. I keep a copy beside my bed. Did he?”

“Uh... yup. He sure did.” She nodded a little stiffly, folding her arms to give them something to do.

Gianna heard Max behind her making some strange noise between a laugh and a scoff, but she didn’t dare turn and give him any kind of warning look when Bedford was gazing up at her so desperately.

“That’s just like him. Such a sentimental man.” he wiped at the corners of his eyes and sat a little straighter. “Tell me, how did he die?”

_Fuck me, this just gets worse and worse! Wonder if he’d believe me if I told him Hawthorne was eaten alive by feral canids?_

“He, uh, he died in an escape pod accident.”

“Oh... awful business, that. But why - how - no, no. Best not to ask after the gory details.”

 _Best you don’t._ She agreed silently. Admitting that she had inadvertently killed a Board member’s close friend was probably not the best way to go about getting her ship back, even if it was Hawthorne’s own fool error that had him wind up pinned head first beneath half a tonne of solid metal. Any idiot should have known not to stand directly beneath an incoming drop pod holding a homing beacon above their head. But she supposed he paid the ultimate price for his lack of common sense.

Max chimed in again, this time with a pointed cough, reminding Gianna of why they were there in the first place.

“Again, I’m very sorry. Can we, uh, can we get back to the topic at hand?”

Bedford shook his head and sat a little straighter. “Right, right. You’re going important places, I’m sure. Big, exciting, important places.” He turned to his computer and began typing away, hitting the enter key with a flourish. “There, I’ve removed the flag from your ship. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Thank you for your time.” Gianna nodded as politely as she could and made to walk out.

“However, before you go,”

She closed her eyes and swore internally.

_What now!?_

“Alex promised to tell me the location of Phineas Welles - I’m sure you’ve seen his wanted posters all over the colony. Did Alex tell you where Welles might be? Anything at all?”

At this point she was certain that someone would hear the furious thumping of her heartbeat against her ribs, if they hadn’t already noticed the treacherous red flush creeping up her throat. Why in the hell did Phin think she was in any way cut out for this? Was there really no one else on the Hope he could have trusted with this task?

_You’re being ungrateful, again._

After another forced breath, she turned and planted a hand on her hip, cocking an eyebrow as innocently as she could.

“Why do you think I’d know anything about Welles?”

“Well Alex knew - or said he did - and you have his ship. Maybe he kept some records around. Or a conveniently placed note on his bedside table?”

“We weren’t that well acquainted, I’m afraid. Alex never mentioned Phineas Welles.”

That part certainly wasn’t a lie. And that made it all the more easy to say, even if it wasn’t exactly the whole truth at the same time.

_The ends justify the means… I hope._

“That’s- well, that’s just terrible news. Law, what am I going to do now? The Board will have my head.”

“I can only apologise, and wish you luck. Have a good day.” She was satisfied that he’d fallen for the ruse so far but didn’t dare stick around long enough for him to continue probing. Gianna turned on her heel and left Bedford to his rambling, her eyes staring determinedly ahead. She didn’t stop walking until the office was out of sight, and noticed that she wasn’t the only one who let out an audible sigh when they finally came to a halt.

“Well, that could have gone worse.” Max commented drolly.

“I thought we were done for when he just up and asked you about Welles like that. You think he bought it?” Parvati’s voice was barely more than a whisper and she stared anxiously at the two corporate troopers who were bartering with the Spacer’s Choice merchant nearby. Luckily, they were too engrossed in their bickering to pay attention to any conversation going on around them.

Gianna shrugged. “That’s why I got out of dodge as fast as I could. Didn’t wanna hang around and find out. He seemed satisfied with my reply, though.” She smiled at her companions, a little calmer now that they were out from under the Board’s nose for the time being. “Anyway, it’s done now. Let’s go see this Gladys that Phin told me about. Then we can sort out Max’s thing after.”

Max nodded sternly. “So long as we’re sitting on this miserable old station I am in no rush, captain. My data can wait until after we’ve spoken to Gladys.”

She nodded her agreement. “Sure thing. Can’t be much worse that dealing with Bedford, I guess.”

* * *

In some respects, she was right. In others, she was so, so wrong.

“Ten thousand bits. That’s… well, that’s more than anyone like me could ever hope to make in their whole life.” Parvati murmured, trying to do the maths on her fingers, her tongue poking out in that adorable way it often did when she was thinking hard about something.

“I suppose it’s doable, if this Roseway tip works out for us.” Max replied with a vague shrug. Ever since they’d retrieved the data he’d been after about his missing scholar he didn’t seem to be particularly engrossed in any of their other plans.

“That’s a pretty big ‘if.’” Gianna sighed, tapping her thumb along each fingertip as she pondered their next move. ADA could get them back to Terra 2 in a heartbeat, but if what Gladys told her was true, Roseway was in an absolute shambles and was likely to be fraught with danger. The idea of wandering willingly into yet another hostile zone made her feel just a touch queasy.

Still, what choice did she have right now? There wasn’t enough work on the Groundbreaker for her to raise the bits she required to get that nav-key to Stellar Bay. Hell, she wasn’t even certain that there were ten thousand bits on the ship as a whole.

Though it hadn’t stopped her from taking on work from pretty much anyone who offered it. As long as she kept herself busy, everything would be fine.

“Oh, look who’s still hanging around.” Max drawled, snatching Gianna’s wandering thoughts back to the present.

She looked up as they headed up the dock to see Felix standing in front of the Unreliable, gazing up at the ship with a wistful look about him. He spun around when they approached, and she didn’t miss the subtle widening of his eyes, like he’d been caught somewhere he shouldn’t have been.

“Fancy running into you again. Don’t mind me - I was just admiring your ship from up close.” He made to reach up and run a hand through his hair, but seemed to think better of it and instead jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Gotta hand it to you, boss, that’s a fine-looking ship. Only thing it’s missing is me.”

 _My god, he’s forward._

“Wow, Felix. You’re pretty eager to throw in with somebody you barely know. How do you know I’m trustworthy?” She cocked her head to one side, ignoring yet another one of Max’s grumbled complaints over her shoulder.

“Hey, I’ve been watching ships come and go from this very docking bay for at least two years. Call it intuition if you will - I’ve got a good feeling about you.” He shrugged simply, offering her a lop-sided grin that quickly faded when he straightened up, suddenly business-like. “Look, just give me a shot. That’s all I ask. I could be the best damn crew you ever had.”

She smiled. This guy had the kind of easy confidence that she could only dream of pulling off. Plenty of boast and swagger, and by the sounds of the altercation she overheard earlier in the day, a mean swing to back it up. He could be incredibly useful. And from what she gathered from their previous conversation he bore no love for the Board, an even bigger plus in her book.

"I say we give him a chance." Parvati interjected firmly, frowning when Max glowered at her. "Oh c'mon, Max. He seems like the right sort, and the captain thinks so, too. I can tell."

Gianna nodded and folded her arms. “Ok, Felix. Consider this your interview.”

“Sure, an interview. That sounds fair - I mean, first time for everything, right? Ask me anything you like.”

“Are you any good in a fight?”

He snorted. “Are you kidding? I love a good fight. One time I took an auto-loader’s head clean off its servos with one swing of a tossball stick.” He paused a moment to sigh at this fond memory. “You can count on me in a scrap, boss. That’s a promise.”

Something in the way he looked down at her with those large hazel eyes said to her that he truly meant it, too.

“Good to know. Ok, what’s your biggest flaw?”

This one he took a little bit of time deliberating over. “Foreman told me my biggest problem was that I didn’t take orders. I told him my problem is not with authority, it’s with jackasses. So, yeah. I guess my biggest flaw is that I don’t suffer idiots. Hope that’s not a deal-breaker.”

“A man after my own heart.” She grinned. “Ok, final question - What’s the value of pi?”

“Uh, it’s delicious?” He shot her a frown, as though it was painfully obvious. “Mock-apple pie with a tripicale crust, maybe with a little cream on top. Classic.”

Both Gianna and Parvati chuckled loudly at his response. She hadn’t really been expecting a genuine answer, though it thrilled her to know that at least someone out here had a sense of humour.

“Perfect, you’re hired!”

From the way his eyes nearly popped out of his skull, it didn’t seem as though he truly believed she would let him in. Gianna tried not to be too put out by that thought.

 _Shit, I hope I didn’t push him too far with this interview crap._

“Wow. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that. Thanks, boss. You’re not gonna regret this.”

They shook on it, and she returned his smile with vigour, trying to erase any doubts he may have about her. “You can just call me Gia. Welcome aboard, Felix.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this first chapter in my story, otherwise known as "The Outer Worlds is a love note to Firefly and you can't convince me otherwise."
> 
> Feedback keeps the light on in my brain! <3


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